Sloop of War U.S. Macedonian and USS Mississippi
Artist
Hibata Osuke
(Japanese, 1813 - 1870)
CultureJapanese
Date1853
MediumWatercolor
DimensionsOverall: 12 x 51 in. (30.5 x 129.5 cm)
Credit LineMuseum purchase and Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Spark as a memorial to their son, Donald W. Spark, USMCR, 1923-1944
Object number52.55.4
Not on view
DescriptionWatercolor painting of the USS Mississippi at right & U.S. Sloop of war Macedonian at left. Made at the time of Adm. Perry's visit to Japan in 1853. Mounted under glass in a narrow black wooden frame a little larger than the mounted painting.Label TextAfter Hibata Ōsuke Japanese, 1813-1870 Sloop of War U.S. Macedonian and USS Mississippi, 1854 Watercolor of paper Hibata Ōsuke also sketched Perry's ships. On the return trip in 1854, nine American ships arrive in Yokohama harbor. The American ships' black coloring and steam power were remarkable to the Japanese. The paddle-wheeled Mississippi had been among Perry's original four gunboats that departed Hampton Roads on November 24, 1852 on the first voyage for Japan, calling in Portugal and South Africa before arriving in 1853. The sailing ship Macedonian had joined Perry's expedition in China. Museum purchase and gift of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Spark, as a memorial to their son, Donald W. Spark, USMCR, 1923-1944 52.55.4 Exhibition HistorySmithsonian Exhibit, "The Japan Expedition 1852-1855 of Commodore Matthew Calbraith Perry," Oct. 10-Dec. 11, 1968. Union Carbide Building, under the Auspices of the Japan Society, Feb. 17-March 20, 1969. Philadelphia Civic Center, April 5-May 4, 1969. "Inspiring Impressionism: Japanese Prints in the Chrysler Collection," Chrysler Museum of Art, Norfolk, VA, March 10 - June 18, 2017.Published ReferencesVirginian Pilot, 11/30/52. U.S. NAVAL INSTITUTE PROCEEDINGS, July 1953, The Mississippi shown. 100 ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION-PERRY SAILING 1952, PROGRAM BOOK COMMEMORATING 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF OPENING OF YOKOHAMA, pub. in Japan, program. Peter Booth Wiley, _Yankees in the Land of the Gods, Commodore Perry and the Opening of Japan_ (New York: Viking Penguin, 1990), 150, 216, 319, 369.
